Caught red-handed by Snape with an unconscious witness literally in her grasp, Jane Yu felt utterly defenseless.
Who could have predicted that just moments ago, Theodore had dragged her under the table—
Only to slip her a note reading "mead" with one hand while drawing his wand with the other and casting a Stunning Spell on his own head?
Managing to dodge curses and flying fists during the massive brawl, crawling halfway under a table to pass secret intelligence...
And knocking himself unconscious first to avoid someone else doing it for him...
Jane Yu couldn't help but feel profound respect for Theodore's advanced mental state, excellent physical condition, and psychological fortitude.
At this moment, having fallen victim to what was essentially insurance fraud and with a massive burden of blame crushing down on her, all she could manage was a feeble:
"I just wanted to eat my dinner in peace... Do you believe me?"
But the thick layer of ice coating Snape's face and Dumbledore's stern scrutiny conveyed three clear words: We don't.
"I should have known—making a dazzling entrance halfway through the feast could never be the limit of Miss Yu's attention-seeking abilities. That would be far too easy for her.
"First day of term, barely an hour since stepping off the train, and she's already deliberately incited students to fight, sending half of Slytherin to the Hospital Wing."
Having expelled so much venom in one breath, Snape deeply understood the frustration of dealing with such a slippery character—
Couldn't cut her, couldn't cook her, couldn't chew her up!
Scolding didn't work, point deductions didn't work, detentions didn't work, and expulsion was pure fantasy...
Nothing fazed her—immune to both carrot and stick, fearing neither heaven nor earth; with Dumbledore's backing above and student support below...
Not even fifteen minutes ago, he'd given Jane Yu earnest guidance about not showing off and attracting enemy attention...
But she'd let it go in one ear and out the other, treating his words like a passing breeze!
Feeling utterly drained of strength and options, Snape could only launch another venomous attack:
"How absolutely astounding, Miss Yu. An unprecedented feat in Hogwarts' entire history—accomplished by you on the very first day.
"I suppose she believes only such a high-profile mass brawl would be worthy of her status, making Slytherin the laughingstock of the other houses—"
Before he could finish, another voice rang out from the far end of the hall—
"We're not a laughingstock!"
Every eye in the hall instantly focused on the source of that voice—Harry Potter.
Under the combined gaze of all professors and students, plus Snape's poisonous glare, the poor Chosen One felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
But his mouth stubbornly continued moving:
"She led everyone to do the right thing! Crabbe and Goyle were clearly the provocateurs—everyone saw them stealing seats—!"
Snape felt some of his strength and methods returning.
Perhaps he couldn't handle this particular slippery character, but when it came to that piece of fresh meat named Harry Potter—another student who treated his words like air and insisted on showing off—he had plenty of ways to deal with him!
"As Head of House, I don't recall Slytherin's internal affairs requiring your expert commentary, Potter.
"Interrupting while a professor is speaking—twenty points from Gryffindor."
Watching Harry deflate and slump back down, Snape felt slightly better after docking Gryffindor 150 points in just a few hours.
He turned back to continue his scolding:
"I believe you're all students over eleven years old, not two or three-year-old toddlers who only know how to cry, throw tantrums, and flail about.
"Fighting over seats on the first day of term makes me wonder if this is Hogwarts or a nursery playing musical chairs."
"It wasn't just about seats!" Daphne protested. "They stole our food—"
Snape let out a cold laugh, and with this additional explanation, immediately turned his gaze to Jane Yu:
"I see. So that's why Miss Yu claimed she just wanted to eat her dinner in peace—by inciting a group of students to fight for the food back, she could finally eat properly, is that right?
"Fighting over a few slices of pizza—what a magnificent reason for battle. I almost thought Hogwarts was suffering from famine."
Jane Yu opened her mouth, feeling that everything was wrong, as if another burden had been piled onto her back.
She made one final struggle:
"No, I just switched out the food and... disinfected it?"
She'd clearly been doing good deeds, thinking of everyone's safety and health...
Who could have predicted that her classmates would charge into battle shouting her name with such fervor?
"Yes, disinfection," Snape immediately picked up her words, speaking sarcastically. "Clearing all the viruses from her sight straight into the Hospital Wing—now her field of vision is perfectly clean."
With such a bloody brawl witnessed by everyone, even the most biased person couldn't pretend nothing had happened.
Under the sympathetic gazes of his colleagues, Snape's expression darkened:
"Disregarding school rules, lacking discipline, acting with complete impunity, harming fellow students... I suppose I have no choice but to personally discipline students from my own house."
He announced matter-of-factly:
"For inciting violence, Miss Yu—detention for the entire school year."
Jane Yu blinked—
Though her defense had failed and this burden had landed squarely on her head...
This punishment sounded oddly familiar—she seemed to remember identical words flashing by just dozens of minutes ago, and during the recent summer holidays?
But the previously quiet Great Hall suddenly erupted into commotion, with students from the other three tables beginning to stand and voice protests.
Snape sneered again at the young snakes:
"For your appalling behavior and the unprecedented negative impact you've caused, I have no choice but to deduct 150 points from Slytherin—"
The commotion in the hall grew even louder.
At the Hufflepuff table, Justin Finch-Fletchley, who had provided some tactical guidance during the battle, suddenly stood up.
Ever since the Chamber of Secrets petrification incident in second year, he'd regarded Jane Yu, who killed the Basilisk, as his savior.
Facing Snape's glare, his face pale:
"Yu shouldn't be given detention, Professor! She didn't do anything wrong!"
One stone stirred up a thousand waves—the hall erupted in chaos.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry, having regained courage from Snape's repeated blows, stood up again, joined by Hermione and Ron... The little lions rose one after another, showing their support for Jane Yu.
Across the three tables, students who had participated in sideline coaching or muddied the waters as mercenaries continued standing up, including various prefects.
Hufflepuff'sMacmillan, Abbott, Susan, and others; Ravenclaw'sGoldstein and Patil, among others...
"They shouldn't lose points! If anyone should lose points, it should be Crabbe and Goyle—!"
Gradually, half the hall had risen to their feet, and the number continued growing!
Even Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout couldn't help but be amazed by the students' spirit!
Reading the meaning behind the students' actions, they abandoned attempts to maintain order and instead quietly stood with the students.
"Please quiet down, everyone."
Taking in the students' reactions, Dumbledore keenly realized this fight wasn't simply about stealing seats and food.
After all, this was Slytherin—the house that valued honor most highly and almost never exposed internal conflicts in front of other houses—
For them to beat each other bloody in full view of everyone, there had to be deeper reasons.
He carefully analyzed the composition of both sides:
The two Greengrass sisters and Zabini, many neutral pure-blood families... plus half-blood and Muggle-born students...
Those carried away—Goyle and Crabbe, Malfoy, the unconscious Nott and other Death Eater children... Pansy and other families claiming to support the Dark Lord...
He immediately understood what Jane Yu had accomplished on the very first day of term:
She was uniting all available forces!
She was working to bring together Slytherin's non-extremist pure-blood supremacists, half-bloods, and Muggle-born students!
She was preventing Death Eaters from using their children to expand their sphere of influence in Slytherin!
She was stopping Death Eaters from extending their claws into the school!
Who could have imagined that Slytherin, always known for self-preservation, could unite and bravely resist?
He hadn't held much hope for this—
But she had done it!
In this situation, as Headmaster, he should provide guidance—
And absolutely should not punish these children or Jane Yu, who had mobilized them!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━